Masters Degrees (Psychology)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Psychology) by browse.metadata.advisor "Coetzee, Bronwyne Jo’sean"

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    Exploring primary school learners’ perceptions of mental health and mental health-related stigma at a South African primary school: a qualitative study
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-11) Johnson, Aimee; Coetzee, Bronwyne Jo’sean; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Introduction. Mental health conditions (MHC) constitute a global crisis and place a heavy burden on the lives of children and young people (CYP). In South Africa, risk factors such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, non-communicable diseases, community violence, substance abuse, poverty, and economic inequalities threaten progress toward improved well-being and place CYP at high risk for the development of MHC. Research indicates that in this country, 10-20% of CYP have a greater chance of developing a common mental health condition. Despite the increased prevalence of MHC, many CYP in South Africa who would benefit from access to mental health care services do not receive adequate treatment or are unable to access the appropriate care. Extant literature indicates that poor mental health literacy, lack of emotional understanding and emotional competence, limited prior experiences with mental health care services, and stigma influence help-seeking behaviour amongst CYP. However much of what we know about help-seeking behaviours for MHC amongst CYP is found in studies restricted to high-income settings. Consequently, few studies in South Africa have explored CYP’s perceptions of mental health, MHC, and mental health-related stigma. In this study, I sought to explore primary school learners’ perceptions of mental health, MHC, and mental health-related stigma. Methods. Participants comprised of 25 primary school-aged children attending two public primary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. Of those 25 participants, I conducted indepth semi-structured interviews with 20 participants (aged 10-14) from school 2 and five from school 1. Of those 25 participants, 13 formed part of the pilot study (five from school 1 and 8 from school 2). Five case vignettes were developed and used in this study to further elicit participants' understanding of mental health terminology. I analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis and ATLAS.ti v9 software. Findings. I identified five superordinate themes that elucidated participants’ perceptions of mental health terms: (1) understanding of mental health terminology, (2) scope of emotional vocabulary, (3) ability to identify a mental health disorder, (4) understanding of stigma related to a mental disorder, and (5) understanding of stigma related to a physical temporary injury. Participants did not present difficulty articulating their understanding of most of the mental health terminology presented to them. However, participants struggled to express their understanding of the term’s stigma and mental health-related stigma. Participants possessed an extensive understanding of emotional vocabulary and were able to identify positive and negative emotions in case vignettes. However, some participants though able to identify emotions only had a limited vocabulary in this respect. Participants presented no difficulty in identifying different mental and emotional states in the case vignettes, which suggested an adequate level of mental health literacy was present. Participants identified a mental health condition as being more severe than that of a physical disorder. Nonetheless, these participants remained willing to seek MH care services for their mental and/or emotional problems. They were cautious about who would discover their problems for fear they would be discriminated against. However, this did not impact their willingness to seek MH care services. Conclusion. Within the South African context, this qualitative study demonstrates that CYP were able to engage with and understand mental health terms. The findings from the study highlight the potential of children to engage in therapeutic programmes whether aimed at prevention or more targeted programmes. Furthermore, as stigma was not well understood by participants the findings emphasize and highlight the importance and need for additional research and further development of age-appropriate interventions.